Air-moistening apparatus for hot-air furnaces



June 21, 1927. D HANDELAN AIR MOISTENING APPRATUSFOR HOT AIR FURNAGESFiled Sept. 1, 1926 Z8 F48, l

Patented June 21, 1927.!

1,632,836 APA'IENT oFFlc-E.

` DANIEL HANDELAN, 0F MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

AIR-MOISTENING APPARATUS FOR HOT-AIR FURNACES.

Application led September 1, 1926. Serial No. 132,955. y

My invention relates to .air moistening apparatus for hot air furnacesand to fur nace shoes' for use in con'unction with such air moisteningand humi ifying systems applicable to furnaces and partlcularly to thetype of air moistening and humidlfylng system having .a spray nozzlewithin the cold air return duct of the furnace.

An object ofthe invention is to provide a shoe by means of which thesurplus water discharged into the shoe may be readily and convenientlydisposed of before the same enters the furnace so that unnecessarycorrosion of the furnace proper may be prevented.

Another object of the invention resides in providing a shoe curved atone end and formed at its other end witha neck having the bottom thereofraised above the base of said shoe, said neck being directly connected'to the casing of the furnace and serving to prevent the wateraccumulating 1n the bottom ofk the shoe from enteringthe space withinthe furnace.

Another object ofthe invention resides in providing an inclined battlesituated within the furnace and inclining :toward the inner wall of thefurnace, said baille having a drain-board connected therewith Vadaptedto lie upon the bottom of the neck and extending into the shoe properfor collecting .and turning all water precipitated against said baille`b'ack again into the shoe.

A still furtherA `object of the invention re'- sides in employing anannular sleeve for the reception of the cold air return ductof thefurnace, which sleeve is arranged with a portion depending within theshoe; having formed along its lower edge an annular gutter adapted toreceive and collect all the sur-l plus water deposited upon thewallof-the duct and to further provide a leader con-- nected with sai-dgutter for discharginglthe water collected thereby .into the bottom ofthe shoe adjacent the waste pipe associated therewith. Y With theforegoing and other objects yin view, which will appear in the followingdescription, the invention residesin the novel combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter del,scribed and claimed. y f

AIn the drawingsillustrating an embodiment of my invention:

Fig. 1.is a fragmentary elevational Viewl of a furnace and cold airreturn 'therefor illustrating the application of my improvedn airmoistening apparatus thereto, and showing a portion thereofand said coldair duct 1nsect1on.

Fig. 2' is a plan sectional view taken on line 2 2 of FigQl. l

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detailview of the sleeve and of theshoe. I l

With the ordinary humidifying system, such as4 are used in conjunctionwith furnaces where the moisture is 'sprayed into the cold air returnduct of the furnace, considerable dificulty has been kencountered due tothe fact that. the surplus water enters the furnace `proper and rapidlycauses the corrosion of the interior walls of the same. In additionsurplus water in large particles folgutter mounted on the top` lowsalong with the air and` is deposited 'within the rooms whose air isbeing humidi-v fied, thereby moistening the articles within such roomsand causing disfiguration andinjury'to the same. `My invention overcomesthese difficulties 4by providing -a structure adapted to remove both thesurplus water from thel cold air duct and the shoe, as well as from theair entering the furnace so that when. the air isrdischarged into theroom proper ,said air is of uniform humidity and theparticles of water'suspended therein are lsulliciently line to prevent injury ordisiguration tothe articles within the room,4 at the1 sametimepreventing the corrosion of the interior ofthe furnace.

For the purpose of illustrating the application ofmy invention I haveshown a portion of al furnace indicated in its entirety at A. Thisfurnace" consists of the usual ash pit and fire box sections 10 and 11respectively supportingithe grates 12 in the ordinary manner. A circularcasing or shield 13 encircles the exterior of the furnace forming anannular space 14 extending completely around-the same for the receptionof the air to `be heated,fsaid space being connected with' the usual hotair pipes at the top of the vfurnace whichhave not been shown in thedrawings. A'cold air return duct l5 is connected with the rooms whoseair is to be heated and humidilied, and/'extends ,downwardly towards'the bottom 'of the furnace where the same is Vconnected therewith bymeans of my improved shoe as will presently becomeapparent. t

lVithin'the cold air` return duct 15 at a point considerably above thefloor on which the furnace rests is situated a spray nozzle 16 connectedby means of a pipe 17 to any suitable water sulpplyl system. This nozzle16 is of a type a apted to break u the wa ter passing therethrough intoa. e mist, and to discharge the same. downwardly in the direction oftravel of the cold air being returned to the furnace. The mistemanating-from the nozzle 16 spreads out and is directed against thewalls of the duct 15 where a portion of the same is precipitated andcaused to flow along the inner walls of said duct as Water. `In additionto. this water a certain. amount of the mist or vapor' discharged fromsaid nozzle consists of larger globules which are sufficiently heavyarticles with which the air comes in contact.

l. This water, together with the water` formed along the inner walls ofthe duct 15, is collected by means Ofvmy invention .and .dis-

v be explained.

charged into a suitable waste, as will now The duct lisfconnected to thelower end A of the casing 13 of furnace A by meansy of a shoe indicatedin' its entirety at B. Thisl shoeconsists of side walls 18`and 19connected by a,curved rear wall 20.- A base 21 forms a bottom for thesaid 'walls while a top 22 covers the upper portion of the same. At theend of the shoevopposite the wall l2O,

thetop 22, the side walls 18 and 19, and a bottom 23 elevated above thebase/21 form a neck 24 adapted to be connected with the casformed in-`said casing. thisneck 1s connected by meansof a short bottom of. theshoe B into which the surplusC ing 13 and tocommuicate with the inte-yrior of the furnace through an opening 25 The bottom 23` of wall' 26extending completely across the shoe lfrom wall18 to wall 19 to the base211 thus formlng a compartment or pan 27 in the water collected Lfromthe humidiyingysytem may be discharged. This compartment is drained bymeans of a waste pipeV 28.c'on-' nected tothe base 21 thereof which maylead to any suitable sewer or sump.

'The lower end'of the vertical cold air re- `turn duct 15 isfconnectedto a sleeve 29 which is mounted. upon the shoeB and is shownin detailmfFig. 3.- This sleeve iscircular in ormationand consists of an innerlining 30 surroundedbyan outer covering 31 extendlng only for `a portionof the length thereof.

VThe lower end of the covering 31 is doubled back as'indi'cated at 32 toform a shoulder i133 at'the bottom thereolfywhile vthe'vupper partthereofl may be ,integrally `formed with the ,lining 3 or the saine maybe secured thereto in any suitable manner. v An opening is cut inthe-top 22 of shoe B concentricV It can there 31 rests upon the marginalportion 34 of Vsaid top so as tosupi port and hold the same in place. Itwill be noted that the lower portion of the lining 3() extendsdownwardly within the shoe B where thesame is turned up as indicated at35 tov forman annular gutter 36 extending completely around the same.The sleeve 29 is attached tothe top`22' by soldering the same within theinterior of the shoe at 37. It will be noted that the bent-up portion'35of the sleeve 29 forming a gutter 36 is arranged so that the sameinclines toward the center of the curved wall 20 ot the shoe. The

lowermost portion of gutter 36 has'attac-hed 8.0 i

to it a leader 38 adapted to receive the water collected by said gutterand discharge the same in the compartment 27 at the bottom of said shoein close proximity to the waste pipe 28. The' cold air return duct 15 isformed with the usual bead 39 running circumferentially about the sameat its lower end and is adapted to be inserted into vthe sleeve 29',said bead resting u on the upper edge of the sleeve and there ysupporting the said pipe in proper relation tothe shoe B. It can readilybevcomprehended that all of the water precipitated upon the inner wallsot,` the cold air return duct 15 is col-- .lected by the v gutter 36 anddlscharged through the leader 38' into the compartment 27 of s oe B,where the same may be rreadily draine from the system throughthewafsteglobules of water which might otherwise drop from the lower edge of theduct 15 into pipe 28. The air on passing into the shoe` is thereby freedfrom any drops or large the shoe proper and be picked f up thereby,v

and also eliminating dripping noises.

In addition-to the gutter 36 for removing the surplus waterfrom thesystemAI employ anarcuatebaliie 4() whichis situated within the space 14in the urnace'-.A. This baffle l has connected to it a drain-board 41adapted to extend through the opening 25 and into the .compartment 27 ofshoe B, where said drain-board is formed witha depending lip 42 adaptedto overhang the wall26 of neck This" structure is turther supported 24.upon a block 43 situated within the furnace and resting-upon the, floorin such 'a manner that the baiile 40, which: is inclinedin relation tothe drain-board 41', slopes toward the ash pit section'10 'of thefurnaceV and leans against the same. `With .this device the vlargerglobuless ofl water present in the humidiied air are caused to beprecipitated against the baffle 40 ast-he' air changes direc-- tion inyleaving the shoe B and entering the space 14 within the furnace A. SuchWater ppecipitated-against-this bafile is drained by means of the.drain-board 41 back into the compartment 27 Where it is carried away byvthe waste pifpe 28a-s previously described.

i ore readily be seen that all of the surplus water is'removed from theair entering the furnace so that when the hucondition.

' from the humidifying system and from the'A midified air is dischargedinto the room,the same is comparatively free from larger globules ofwater and is in a highly suitable My invention is particularlyadvantageous in that it serves to remove the surplus water airdischarged therefrom, so that the air upon entering the room is-properly conditionedthereby preventing corrosion of the furnace andinjury and disfiguration of the articles within the room where the airis discharged. At the same time the undesirable noise from the drippingofthe water in the shoe is eliminated. v

Changes in the specific form of my invention, as herein disclosed, maybe made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the sirit of my invention."

Havlng describe my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protectby Letters Patentis: I

1. In combination with the casing of a` tending inwardly to said shoe,and a peripheral gutter attached to the lower end of said sleeve andleading'to one side of said shoe, a duct forming the cold air return ofsaid furnacemounted in said sleeve, and a spray nozzle situated insaidduct.

2. In combination lwith the casing and a,

vertical duct forming` the cold air return of a furnace, a shoeconnected ltosaid casin and having an opening in the `top thereof, asleeve mounted in said opening and -depending within said casing, saidsleeve being adapted to receive said cold air duct, aspray nozzlesituated within said cold air return, a gutter formed alongthe loweredge of said sleeve'and inclined` toward a wall of said shoe,I and aleader connected with said gutter and extending toward the base of saidshoe.

3. In combination with the casing and vertical duct forming the cold airreturn of a furnace, a 4shoe connecting said duct with said casi-ng,said duct, and a:gutter in said duct beneath said spray nozzle and abovethe bottom of said shoe.-

4. In combination with the 'casing and a vertical duct forming the coldair return of a furnace, a shoe having a neck connected 'with .the saidcasing, said neck-being raised above the base of .said shoe, an opening'in `the top, of said shoe communicating with said duct, a spray nozzlesituated within said duct, land a drain in the bottom of said shoesituated below said neck, and a baiiie lsituated within said furnace andinclining toward the wall thereof and having a pore` tioni'c'onnectedtherewith forming a dramgutter alon a spray nozzle situated withinboard, said drainboard .portion extending over said neck anddischarginginto said shoe proper.

in the topf of said shoe, a circular sleeve formed of sheet metal beingdoubled back vfor a portion thereof to provide an annular shoulder, saidsleeve extending into said opening and depending within said shoe withthe shoulder thereof'resting upon the top of said shoe,the dependingvportion. of said sleeve being turned inwardly to form an annular gutteralong the lower endof said sleeve, vsaid sleeve being arranged toreceive the end of said circular duct, and .a leader connected with saidgutter at the lowermost portion thereof, and extending toward the bottomof said shoe.

' 6. In combination with the casing and a duct forming the cold airreturn of a furnace, a shoe being rounded at one end and formed with aneck at its other end connected to said casing, a circular opening in'the top of said shoe, a circular sleeve formed of sheetmetalbeing'doubled back for a portion thereof to provide an annular shoulder, saidsleeve `Iextendinrgfinto said .openin and depending within said shoewiththe s oulder thereof resting upon theA top of said shoe, thedepending (portion of saidk sleeve being turned inward-ly to form anannular the-lower end of said sleeve, said gutter incliningtoward thecurved endV of said shoe, said. vsleeve being arranged to receive theend of said circular duct, and a leader connected with sai-d gutter atthe lowermost aportion thereof, and extending toward the `bottom of saidshoe. Y

7. In combinatioma furnace having a casingf-and a 'vertical duct formingthe cold air return connected therewith near the bottom of said casing,aspray nozzlesituatedP within said ductabove the bottom thereof,

and a gutter at the lower end of said duct `with' said casing, saidshoe, having a neck raised above the base of said shoe,l and. a bathewithin said casing' adapted to drain .water/from the interior of saidfurnace into DANIEL IIAhTDIIIn/Xhl.v

